Riddle of Family Tree Database

Design of effective and normalized database for family tree is a test for good designer. Though one family generations can be described and represented quite satisfactorily by sticking to family name ( surname in Indian context), it stops to explain and register linkages with other families at every node of marriage. 

Though each person, he or she, has a father and mother, the relatives are spread in both families. In the Indian context there are variety of names for each relation and to prepare a complete database even for one person is complex. On the other had the basic relations are simple Father, Mother, Brothers, Sisters, Husband / Wife, Sons and Daughters which can be expressed in the form of as one to one or one to many relationships. 

Family database could be plotted by interconnections with similar sets of each person in the family. Assigning relation names is a difficult task. Divorce, remarriages complicate the issue further.

Yet everybody wants to know about his ancestors, the family tree is understood by all, forms base of history, categorizes population in different groups. The perfect simple database design reducing redundancy is a challenge before those designing family histories and linkages for Indian matrimony software developers with display of complex relationships from database.